By BUTCH HARMON
A number of key offensive players from last year’s state semifinalist team graduated in the spring, so the DeWitt Panthers knew coming into the season that the defense would have to hold down the fort.
So far the Panther defense has done that and more.
Defense has been the calling card for the Panthers this season. Led by senior linebackers Ethan Rennaker and Alex Harless, the defense has been more than stingy.
“Overall, I’m pretty happy with the way we’ve played,” coach Rob Zimmerman said. “I expected us to be pretty good on defense and we have. We’ve allowed 320 yards total the first three games of the season.”
DeWitt’s defense has had a number of other key contributors, including senior defensive lineman Nathan Knauf and junior defensive lineman Sime Ljubicic. Ljubicic recorded five quarterback sacks in the first three games of the season. Defensive backs Colin Rennaker and Jeremiah Macready have also come up big, with Macready intercepting four passes in the first four games.
The overall trademark of the DeWitt defense is speed. Of the 11 starters on defense, all but one has run a sub-5.0 second 40-yard dash.
“At this point, how we’ve played on defense has surpassed expectations,” said Zimmerman. “Without question, the strong point of our defense is our speed. We run really well. They also play well together.”
While the defense has been even better than advertised, the DeWitt offense has been coming together rather quickly. Heading them up is first-year quarterback Ryan Wieber
“Ryan has been doing a good job,” Zimmerman said. “He has never played quarterback before, and he rushed for 400 yards in our first three games. He’s just done a nice job.”
Senior Brian Moore has scored six touchdowns in the first three games and heads up the ground game.
“We have been running the ball real well,” Zimmerman said. “Our offensive line has also done a great job. They have been much-improved.”
The offensive line is led by JL Purves, Calvin Manitowabi, Mark Conway, Mitchell Tarn, and Harless.
“We’ve had a good start to the season, but we still have a long ways to go,” Zimmerman said. “We are ahead of where I thought we’d be at this point of the season. We had to replace a lot of kids off last year’s team but so far we’ve had kids step up.”
Menu